Indonesia lifted a tsunami warning on Monday, hours after ordering evacuations of northern areas threatened by tsunami waves following a 7.8-magnitude quake off the southern Philippines.The tsunami warning "has ended" four and a half hours after being issued, according to the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency's (BMKG) website.
The agency recorded small tsunami waves in at least nine locations in Indonesia, with the highest recorded at 0.75 metres (2.4 feet) in Sangihe island.
Officials in the highest risk areas -- the North Sulawesi capital, Manado, northern Gorontalo province and the Sangihe island -- "are instructed to immediately direct their residents to evacuate in an orderly manner to higher ground," the national disaster agency had said in an earlier statement.
The jolt was felt weakly in affected areas for two to three seconds, it said.
Indonesia and neighbouring countries experience frequent earthquakes due to their location in the Pacific "Ring of Fire" -- an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
A 9.1-magnitude quake struck the westernmost Aceh province in 2004, causing a tsunami and killing more than 170,000 people in Indonesia.
The agency advised residents in areas just beyond the direct danger zone to "stay away from coastal areas and riverbanks" and to halt all activities on waterways.
